eBay Listing Tips/Advice Needed

Hi,

I am now listing things on ebay, currently I sold one antique spoon and now I have four more vintage or antique items listed.

I am trying to stick to auction style only as I have little investment in the actual product. I am trying to sell items quickly so I can begin to get more reviews and become a reliable seller for people to trust.

How long do you recommend listing at item? I have been going with seven days, is this too long?

I also listed one with free shipping to attract more buyers, I know it could be risky as I might actually loose, but I need to test the waters. Out of the four items I have listed the only one that has a bid is the one with free shipping that I just listed. Does the free shipping attract more customers and is it worth the risk most of the time?

I also just set up an ecrater account where I plan to list items with a real price and free shipping or rather the shipping cost worked into the price. Any recommendations on this?

if anyone wants to take a look at how I am listing things and give feedback I would appreciate it. My ebay Id is kristinamaesattic

I would love any feed back in help with being successful at this. I am getting items at yard sales currently because I do not have money to invest in new products yet. I also want to try to build up a good rating before starting dropshipping.

Any advice is always appreciated.

Hello, I looked at your listings and here a few suggestions.

1. Pictures are very important and can be tough for people to perfect. Try to take photos with good lighting and a neutral or white background. A nice trick I use is to place a white bed sheet over a box then place item on sheet using the box as the backdrop. Try to avoid listing pictures that are out of focus or poorly lit.

2. Another great way to dress up a listing and make it look more attractive is to use a listing template. Ebay now has "applications" that you can download and use for free. One such tool is called Froo! Template Themes. We use a service called Auctiva which is very nice but does cost about $10 per month, you can check it out at www.auctiva.com

3. Shipping can make or break you when it comes to profit. People appreciate when shipping is clearly stated. Try to either package and weigh item ahead and charge by weight, this way the buyer can see the exact shipping costs based on their zip code right in the auction and you don't lose money because it cost more than you estimated. You can pick up a decent scale right on ebay for weighing packages. If you are using USPS be aware of delivery times of their services. I used to use parcel post but had too many complaints on delivery times and even had a few packages "lost". I now primarily use First class mail on packages less than 13 ounces and UPS ground, USPS Priority for everything else. Typically priority is not much more than Parcel Post and it has many perks. You can set up an account at USPS.com and get yourself some free boxes for shipping priority. Also if you are shipping heavy items be sure to take advantage of the flat rate boxes.

I started selling on Ebay back in 1991 and have had many many lessons on the way good and bad. I hope these tips will help a little. Have fun and make some money! If you have any other questions don't hesitate to contact me.

Ed
Fradon Lock Company
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Looks like Ed has given some sound advice there sunny. I'll get a chance to take a look later today and will see if I can find anything to ad for you.

: )

Thanks for the tips Ed, I am really appreciative of all the help I can get.

I will work on the pictures, I used lots of light on some but they were coming out dull, then I tried no flash -- that was not working either. My husband who is the photographer in the family is not here, I never realized how difficult it is to get an up close quality picture.

I also was trying to just ship using priority shipping, and then if people needed it sooner or it is very large using UPS ground. I will work on getting the about me portion done and all of my regulations done as well.

Thanks so much for your advice.

Sincerely,

Kristina

Took a look at your account, but no items listed?

the id is kristinamaesattic

I hope it works.

I have four items listed, I have a bunch more to list but I am debating on if I should list them all with free shipping, because the only item that has bids currently is the one with free shipping.

I would appreciate if in you busy schedule you could look and give me any advice.

Thanks so much,

Kristina

Hi Sunny, no idea what is going on, but I am still getting zero items showing. The account I am bringing up is a US account, 7 years old, feedback of 13.

Member id kristinamaesattic ( 13)
Positive Feedback (last 12 months): 100%
[How is Feedback Percentage calculated?:a478fb8a]
Member since: 14-Aug-03 in United States

Best to just post a link to one of the items and I'll go from there.

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thanks

That worked : )

First thing that I notice is the quality of the images, they can certainly be improved on. Never overlook the value of an image when it comes to creating a sale. When customers are shopping offline there are many more triggers that can be pulled to create a sale than are available to an online seller.

A more traditional store owner can stimulate all the senses to enhance the chances of a sale, sound, smell, sight, touch and taste, whereas an online store owner is pretty much limited to sight and sound, and of course most eBayer's are limited to just sight.

So you can see that as an online seller, you're already giving the offline seller a huge head start, so that means you have to sharpen every other aspect of your marketing to a fine point to try and compensate for that head start you are giving away as much as possible.

I know a lot of sellers consider their opposition to be other online sellers, and usually those selling within the same platform as themselves. Sure, they are a primary concern that need to be watched like a hawk, but anyone selling your stock profile from anywhere is a competitor, and you need to be better than them all to not only survive, but to thrive!

Now your description isn't bad, that seemed to tell me most things, but if you want to build this into an ongoing business with this same type of products, then a custom built template will serve you much better in developing a brand for yourself.

A more professional display would also give some buyers more confidence to purchase from you, especially in the world of these products. Buyers want to know that you know what you are selling and a well designed template can convey that message quite effectively.

The other area I would suggest looking at is perhaps offering international shipping options. The US market for Antiques is massive, however the worldwide market makes it look small in comparison. Opening your stock up to international buyers will create more interest, and that can only increase your chances of a sale.

You should also start marketing a newsletter because buyers of Antiques can become repeat customers for you, and repeat customers are the life blood of any long term successful business.

So to recap, my 4 points to focus on short term would be;

1: Quality Images
2: Professional Template
3: International Shipping
4: Develop a repeat customer base

: )